"There is a feel good factor in the whole country!" The words fell from the prime minister's mouth effortlessly. It must have felt so natural and so obvious to him and to those who advised him on his New Year address to the nation speech. Until the onslaught that followed on social media.
I looked up the cliché that has caused so much furore: Feel good factor: "a widespread feeling of well-being and financial security"; "people feeling hopeful and optimistic about the future"; "people feeling happy and positive about their lives"... Which one of these states was the prime minister exactly referring to when he pronounced the unfortunate 'feel good factor'?
Was he referring to the agony people go through every time they open their dry taps while water is criminally being wasted through leaking pipes that nothing has been done about or broken ones that the Central Water Authority treats with utter indifference? Or was he referring to the torment of people in supermarkets when they are hit with the price increases and who find it more and more difficult to feed their children? Or was he perhaps thinking of those whose families have been decimated by drugs that are finding it easier and easier to make their way to children and adults alike in almost total impunity?
Or to the frustration of citizens driving and walking in cities disfigured by the Metro Express tramway? To those whose children have been excluded from jobs in spite of their qualifications and experience because these have been hogged by those close to power? Or to the children being ill-treated in government shelters, their food being eaten by those who are supposed to care for them while the minister in charge is jetting around the world or sleeping in parliament? To those tortured by sick cops who have no other means to cure their boredom? Those who have spent Christmas and New Year in prison without a shred of proof being adduced against them so far? Where is the feel good factor for them?
Yes, the feel good factor is there. It is certainly felt by those who were unemployed or doing low-paid jobs and are now ministers and MPs, drawing over Rs200,000 salaries and other benefits. Those who have suddenly discovered first-class travel and free grub and are making full use of it completely oblivious to the state of our public purse. Those who are accumulating wealth as if there was no tomorrow. Those who were given insanely lucrative jobs just because of the favours they provide to keep some of our ministers happy. Those who were given state land and hit the jackpot.
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Those who made a fortune importing masks, medicines and medical equipment that they sold to the government through their jewelry shops, hotels and drugstores. Those who sit on boards once a month and draw scrumptious fees and benefits. Those who charge the taxpayer for everything they consume and buy including their rice cookers. Those who benefited from the manna from heaven dished up by the Mauritius Investment Corporation using our hard-earned money in total opacity. Those who even when they have embezzled millions and were sentenced by two courts of law still get away with it through a presidential pardon. Those who had their land bought by the government at an exorbitant price that surprised even them and are now waxing lyrical about the government.
Perhaps the prime minister was thinking about these lucky ones. And perhaps he should be forgiven for his sweeping overgeneralisation. The people around him, ministers, MPs, cronies, some private sector bosses and the likes must be feeling really good. What's there not to feel good about? We are paying for it all.
So there is a feel good factor. It's just not felt by everyone.
